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focused on either primary or secondary education (for example, Blimpo, Evans, and Lahire 2015; Bloom et al. 2015; Leithwood et al. 2004; Mbiti 2016) or on high-income countries (Muijs et al. 2004; Siraj-Blatchford and Manni 2007). However, several aspects of the literature on school leadership in LMICs are relevant for ECE. This chapter looks at the emerging evidence and suggests key determinants and enablers of effective ECE leadership in LMICs, including three key elements: (1) good management and leadership, which includes leading in administrative, pedagogical, and partnership areas; (2) policies to support effective ECE management that include school leader recruitment, evaluation, and training; and (3) quality assurance for service delivery and effective use of data to foster improvement. This chapter then draws policy implications and provides implementation guidance to improve ECE management in LMICs.
KEY ELEMENTS OF HIGH-QUALITY ECE MANAGEMENT AND LEADERSHIP This section outlines three areas for effective ECE service delivery: Good management and leadership at the school level, policies at the system level, and explicit quality assurance systems based on data. All three do not apply to all ECE educational systems. However, these areas show the complexity of the leader’s role and the need for environments that support quality services.
Good Management and Leadership at the School Level The actual functions an ECE leader performs to lead and manage ECE centers may vary depending on contextual factors, including the type of provision or whether the preschool is attached to a primary school, among others. In all contexts, however, school leaders perform many different activities. The role of a school leader is complex. It requires multiple competencies, both pedagogical and administrative, as well as the socioemotional skills to develop and build partnerships with teachers, parents, students, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), administration officials, and others in the education system. To support effective management, it is necessary to clearly define the specifics of the school leader’s expected role and the functions the position entails (as well as the functions of others in leadership roles in the school). These expectations must be developed with the participation of management specialists, ECE leaders in practice, and teachers, and must be contextually appropriate. These expectations should also be clear to the ECE leaders and other members of the system and should be adapted to
